SOUTH PLAINFIELD -- A jury in New Brunswick will begin deliberating this morning the fate of an Elizabeth man charged with the killing of a South Plainfield man in the man’s house two years ago.

Shanti Narra, the lawyer for Antaine Williams told jurors in her closing argument that her client could not have shot Al Mustafa Rodriques the morning of April 14, 2008, because Williams was not at the victim’s home and that his confession to police was forced.

But Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Carver, who played a video of Williams’ May 28, 2008, statement to police, rejected Narra’s claims.

"No reasonable person could listen for more than an hour to the (video) and not believe (Williams) committed this crime," Carver said in his closing remarks.

In the video, Williams, 35, who also goes by the name Antoine, told police he and David Jordan went to Rodriques’ home to rob him because they heard he had cash in the house. They cut the cable wires leading to the home the night of April 13, hoping Rodriques would come out to investigate. When he didn’t, the two left and returned the next morning, posing as Comcast technicians there to repair the damage, Williams told police.

Williams said he was the first one in, but when Jordan entered, Rodriques knew it was a robbery attempt and went for his gun. Williams said he punched Rodriques in the chest and pistol-whipped him in the head, forcing the victim to the floor. Rodriques got off two shots, hitting Jordan in the arm and neck, but Williams said he fired two shots into Rodriques’ side, killing him. Williams was unhurt.

Matt Rainey/The Star-LedgerDavid Jordan appears with his attorney Lawrence West before Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Bradley J. Ferencz for the April 14, 2008 murder of Al Mustafa Rodriguez in the victim's South Plainfield home. Williams said they took Rodriques’ safe and ransacked the house looking for items to steal, taking a video game controller and a laptop in addition to the safe.

The two fled and Williams said he went with Jordan to University Hospital in Newark later in the day for treatment of his gunshot wounds. Police later linked Jordan to the murder through DNA evidence.The two were arrested a month later.

Narra told the jury in her closing remarks that the state had no evidence to corroborate what Williams told police.

"No one found Antoine Williams’ fingerprints in that house," she said. "Not a single one of the witnesses provided you with any direct or circumstantial evidence that Antoine Williams had anything to do with anything that happened in that home."

Carver disagreed, detailing testimony from different witnesses that corroborated information Williams gave to police.

"Antaine Williams was saying it (his statement to police) because he was there and was a participant," the prosecutor said. "No flight of fancy here. Al Mustafa Rodriques is dead and this man admitted he’s the one who did it."

Jordan, 38, of Franklin Township, is serving life in prison after he was convicted last year of felony murder, aggravated manslaughter, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and weapons offenses in connection with Rodriques’ killing.

The trial before Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz began last week.